Nancy slowed and pulled over to the side of the road. The entrance into Astral was at an angle, allowing her to see Mary’s car drive up to the security barrier. A guard with a semi-automatic-assault rifle slung over his shoulder exited the security cabin, strolled over to the car and talked to Mary. The guard signalled back to the cabin and the barrier lifted. Taking a deep breath, Nancy engaged first gear, and hoped her badge would gain her access as she turned into the entrance.
The guard signalled her to stop. Nancy pressed the window button.
‘Hi, Detective Roberts, LAPD. I’m here to speak to Mary, the woman who’s just entered.’
‘Can I see some identification?’
Taking her badge from her purse, she held it up. He glanced at the badge and walked to the front of her car, writing down her car number plate details. He returned and signalled toward the cabin and said.
‘Drive through and park up on the left before the second barrier. I’ll need to phone her.’
Nancy gave him a smile. The barrier raised, she drove through and she parked. The badge had worked its magic, but then it always did. She smiled inwardly at the power of the badge. In her fifteen years, it had never failed her in getting access to anywhere. A glance to her left back at the barrier and there were now two guards throwing looks her way, both nursing their semi-automatics in their arms. Their menacing gaze did nothing for her confidence, which waned in tandem with her shoulders sagging.
Her head snapped right to the sound of an approaching vehicle crunching the driveway gravel. The second barrier lifted, a black SUV crunched to a halt and blocked her exit.
Nancy froze to her seat and fixed her eyes on the rear-view mirror. The front doors of the SUV flung open together and two guys jumped out flanking her car on either side with guns drawn.
‘Out of the car, lady, and keep your hands where I can see them.’
Nancy stabbed him a look. She knew exactly who he was and guessed she was in a heap of trouble. This was not how it was meant to go. Nancy desperately tried to summon words that would extricate her from the situation, but she had a feeling anything she could say would be ignored, and removing the key from the ignition, she placed her hands on the dash.
Chapter 73
The two guys converged on her, weapons drawn, as she exited her car. Blondie and his CIA sidekick were no strangers and somehow she wasn’t surprised by their appearance. What worried her were the marks on the left hand side of Blondie’s face and marks on the opposite side of his partner’s face as if they’d been peppered with shotgun pellets. A vision of the glass imploding on the vehicle during the attempt on her life stuck in her mind. Her entire being trembled within.
‘You know the drill, lady, assume the position,’ Blondie said.
Nancy remained tight lipped and complied, turning and placing her hand on the hood. He continued.
‘I thought you were on sick leave? What business do you have here? This is government property.’
Nancy scowled and chose to remain silent as he kicked her legs apart and began his close-quarter search of her body. He removed her pistol from her holster and handed it to his partner. She cringed as he ran his hands down her pants leg.’What have we got here?’ He removed a Saturday-night special from her leg holster. ‘I think this calls for a double check.’
This time he was slow and deliberate. She had to hold her counsel with a bite of the lip as he fondled her breasts. Then he ran his hands in her groin area finally rubbing her butt.
‘Having fun?’ Nancy asked.
He put his lips close to her ear. ‘Nice tits and ass, lady. I bet you can go some.’
Nancy turned, slipping the car keys into her pocket and faced him.
‘Oh, I can go some, all right. Try this.’
Her knee connected with his groin. He doubled over, grabbing at his dick with one hand and his gun arm flailing. She grabbed his gun arm by the wrist. A twist of her upper body and his arm lodged behind his back. With his wrist bent in her grip, his gun dropped from his limp hand. Nancy flicked her leg between his, and using his weight against him, he ended up face down and eating grit. Planting a final knee in the back, Nancy cursed at not having any cuffs with her, then her anger abated at the feel of the barrel of his partner’s gun pressed to her forehead. He gave her an order.
‘Ease off.’
Hands grasped her shoulders and she sprang to her feet in survival mode with her hands held high. The hands holding her in a tight grip belonged to a foot-patrol guard who had joined the fray. Another of the patrol was tugging at the leash of a German Shepherd in need of a mouthwash, saliva drooling from its snarling teeth.
Blondie groaned and rose to his full height. His cheeks flamed with embarrassment. He brushed the dirt from his suit and picked up his gun. Nancy thought she should try to diffuse the situation.
‘Okay, we’ve had our fun. Now, how about I get in my car and drive away and we’ll forget I ever came here?’
Blondie snapped at her. ‘Why are you here?’
‘Private business. Mary Goodyear knows why. I need her help with some of her insight into psychic problems. She told me I needed help, but I haven’t been able to find any. So I came here to ask her.’
She knew it was a lame excuse, but thought it was worth a shot. Blondie pressed his finger to his ear, and spoke into his jacket sleeve. He walked away out of hearing and then returned, still talking into his sleeve.
‘… Okay, will do.’ He turned to Nancy. ‘You’ve got your wish. Get in the SUV. We’ll take you to see Mary.’
A glance at the nearest camera pole and she could see the camera was pointed directly toward her. Blondie and his partner holstered their guns. Blondie held the rear door open for her, which almost brought a snicker from deep within. With the situation diffused, she was cautiously optimistic that she would get her interview and leave, save for one thing… the marks on their faces looked as though they had been caused by being showered with glass as visions of the ambush came back to haunt her.
Nancy felt the bulge of her keys in her pocket. The temptation had been there to press the GPS alarm on the key ring to bring in the cavalry, but so far, she felt she was doing just fine without her dad and his cronies’ help.
She wondered if Uncle Dave and Jim had witnessed events, but looking around, she failed to see any high ground that would give them a vantage point. The ACI building looked strange. She had only viewed it on Google maps from above, but looking at it head-on, the white-painted-single-story building had two enormous domes, that sure enough looked like telescope housings. And, as Uncle Ben had said, they gave the building the appearance of two breasts sunbathing on the roof.
Security at the entrance to the building was every bit as tight as at the security gates, with armed guards at either side of the door. Blondie tapped in a code to a device at the side of the door and it slid open. There was no receptionist in the foyer. All the walls were painted white, with modern art prints adorning the walls, providing a distinctly clinical looking ambience. Flanked by Blondie and his partner, they approached a door. This time, his partner tapped in a code and then he signalled for her to enter.
It was a small room, similar to the interview rooms at homicide headquarters, furnished only with a small table and two functional chairs. In one corner at ceiling height, there was a camera and along one wall a mirror.
‘Wait here, she’ll be along shortly,’ said Blondie.
The door closed behind her, leaving her alone to her thoughts. Nancy tried the door handle, but the door was locked. Pulling out a chair, she sat and faced the mirror. In what was a reversal of roles from what she was used to, Nancy folded her arms. She smiled at the mirror, wondering who it was that would be observing her every facial expression and body signals.
Chapter 74
It was too late now to be thinking of options. With some luck, Nancy hoped to interview Mary, and that her answers would throw some light on the subject of the professor’s death. Then, if her good
fortune held, she would simply leave. If nothing else, she at least hoped to find out what ACI did for its existence. Somehow, she didn’t think it would be that easy, especially with Blondie and his partner cementing a connection of Mary and ACI. What with the association of the agents to Mary, and with the marks on the agents’ faces indicating they may have been the ones who tried killing her during the car chase, she feared the worst.
A cold shiver ran through her body. She hoped that whoever was watching her could not see her trembling on the outside. Weakness was the last thing she needed to display. Idiot, passed through her mind as the best description of her barging into ACI unannounced. Confronting Mary at her home, in hindsight, would have been the better option. Nancy’s thoughts turned to the GPS device on her key ring. Her dad had been clear. ‘Only use the GPS if you are in real danger.’ Nancy began to think the blows to her head had taken their toll on her powers of reasoning, but she held back on retrieving her keys, not sure if it was the right decision.
Closing her eyes, she recalled the satellite view of the grounds from Google Maps. The building was square, giving no clue as to the internal layout. At the rear, fencing cordoned off a sizeable area. Included within that annex, were marked out tennis courts, a small football field and a swimming pool, together with a child’s play area. Beyond that, there was a lake and then a wooded area. From above, the entire area within the external fencing gave the appearance of a vacation hotel. Nothing within the grounds gave any indication of an involvement in chemical manufacture.
She opened her eyes to the sound of buzzing coming from the lock on the door. The door opened and in walked Mary. She walked behind the desk and sat.
‘Good morning, Detective Roberts.’
‘Good morning, please, call me Nancy. I’m not here on official business.’
‘How did you know I worked here?’
‘Well, I came to your home this morning, fully intending to talk to you there, but I saw you drive off and followed you. I thought about flashing my headlights to stop your car, but then I had the notion, being a cop ’n’ all, that you may think I was trying to rob you. So, I decided to wait until you stopped. And here we are.’
Nancy smiled outwardly, but at the same time wondered if that cockamamie excuse sounded as big a lie to Mary as it did to her. The pause lasted for what seemed like an age, with nothing in Mary’s expression to give a clue as to which way she was thinking. Mary picked up a pencil from the desk and started tapping it on the surface. Finally, she peered at Nancy over her half rimmed spectacles and stopped the annoying tapping.
‘So, how can I help?’
‘You said I had a gift, back at the station, and to be honest, strange things have been happening to me. I tried seeking help with a psychic, but they said that they couldn’t help. I was wondering if you could maybe help me before I go mad.’
Mary leaned back in her chair.
‘What sort of strange things?’
‘Well, it’s the visions mainly. Sometimes, I feel like I’m travelling outside my body.’
‘Can you give me an example?’
Nancy gave her the recollection of travelling to the log cabin, careful to leave out any mention of the janitor’s son, David. Mary listened, clasping her hands to form the shape of a steeple with two of her fingers and stroked her lips with them.
‘I don’t think I can help you, you’re too old to join our research program. But there again, in the interest of research, we may be able to help. Is there anything else that goes with the astral travel for you to create a force?’
Nancy didn’t want to explain about her apparent ability to break glass, but saw what she said as an opportunity to talk about Astral.
‘So is that what you do here at Astral; research psychic abilities? I’d be interested in knowing more if you could help.’
Mary picked up the pencil and chewed on it, while she maintained an uncomfortable gaze at Nancy. At last, she broke her silence.
‘Wait here.’
Mary stood and made her way to the door clicking a fob in her hand that released the lock on the door. She turned briefly and threw Nancy a look, before exiting the room.
She doubted Mary was visiting the bathroom, and guessed she had gone to the viewing room for advice. Nancy stood and walked to the mirror, teasing her hair with her fingers and hoping to give the impression she was relaxed to her observers.
It was only a matter of minutes, when the door lock buzzed and Mary re-entered.
‘Follow me and I’ll take you for a tour of the facility. Then you can decide if we can be of help.’
The opportunity to ask questions out of sight of prying eyes and ears was too good an opportunity to miss. Trying not to sound overly enthusiastic at the thought of discovering what the ACI research program entailed, Nancy curled her lips in a smile.
‘Sounds good to me.’
Nancy followed with a spring in her step, but her smile turned to a frown as Blondie and his sidekick joined in on the tour, albeit at a respectful distance behind them.
Chapter 75
Strolling down the corridor, the odd thing Nancy noticed about the building was the windows set high on the walls and the skylights on the ceilings to let in light. Whatever they did there, Nancy could see that the design of the building prevented prying eyes from looking in at activities. A door to the right in the corridor swung inwards and out walked a man and a woman wearing white smocks. Laboratory benches came into view as the door closed slowly. The surfaces were stacked with electronic equipment and coloured liquids bubbling in glassware. Nancy tugged at Mary’s sleeve.
‘What’s going on in there?’
‘Nothing that I get involved in, it’s where they carry out experiments. Part of the program is to research drug concoctions. Some of the discoveries we’ve made have been sold to drug companies and that helps to provide our funding. Many of the interns have psychological problems rather than psychic gifts and through our research we are able to help them.’
‘So are all the people taking part in the program interns?’
‘No, to start with, they are brought by taxi or bus until we can determine which of them are worthy of further tests. Then if the parents agree, we take them into the program full time and they live on site where we school them in conjunction with the tests.’
The revelation explained where the professor’s qualifications came into play as well as the findings in Tracy’s file on the chemicals found in the gum wrapper. Mary stopped, turned to Nancy and peered over her spectacles.
‘Just in case you’re wondering, everything is above board. Nothing is done without the parents’ agreement.’
The tour continued, taking in a brief visit to a geography lesson taking place with a mixed class of ten children, around seven to nine years of age. In the next room, an entire wall displayed a series of one’s and zero’s cascading down the wall, projected from an overhead machine. Nancy averted her gaze to avoid vertigo, but not before the images made her head spin.
‘This is John, our savant. Don’t worry, he won’t hear you or see you. He’s been with us for a good number of years. John’s producing some remarkable results and he’s only fourteen.’
John sat on a swivel chair facing the projected figures, swaying his entire body from side to side. Electrodes ran from a machine by his side and into a helmet placed on his head. Nancy glanced at the figures on the wall. The rows of figures streaming from top to bottom were white, but every now and then they would stop and red rows of ones and zeros’ would be inserted into the code at the tap of John’s fingers, which were attached to probes on the arms of his chair. Nancy was at a loss to know what was happening; sure that she noticed Chinese symbols amongst the code, when the image stopped briefly before continuing. She stepped forward. Her mouth opened in shock. John’s eyes where writhing, with his pupils milked over with cataracts. Mary took hold of her arm and led her to the door.
‘I think you’ve seen enough in here.’
‘Is he blind? How can he see what’s on the wall?’
‘Remarkable isn’t he. He’s speed reading, but he sees it all in his mind.’
Back in the corridor, Blondie and his partner stood a respectful distance away. Mary ushered her into another room. There was a desk partitioned down the middle to prevent a young girl from seeing what an instructor who sat opposite was doing. He turned over a card with a picture of a square and stared at it. The young girl held her head in her hands, and then sat back.
‘It’s a triangle.’
‘Next,’ he said and turned over another card with a circle.
‘It’s a square.’
Mary beckoned Nancy to leave the room.
‘Not one of our success stories. We’ll be releasing her from the program soon.’
The scene had reminded her of an old black and white documentary she had watched about psychic experiments during the cold war.
‘I fail to see how all this can help me?’
‘Maybe this will change your mind? Follow me.’
They walked along the corridor until just before it opened up into a circular area. Mary opened a door and signalled for her to enter. A man in his late thirties sat at a desk watching a young boy through a window into an enclosed room. The boy, around eight, was sitting on a cushion in the centre of the room staring at a still picture of a lake on a monitor screen fastened to the wall. On the boy’s lap was a clipboard holding an A4 photo of the lake and in one hand, he held a marker pen.
‘We’re almost finished here,’ said the observer.
A screen on the desk in front of Nancy, displayed the same scene of the lake, but with a man sitting on a log at the edge of the lake and two birds skimming the surface.
‘This is an actual real time closed circuit camera shot of the lake around back,’ said the observer.
The young boy scribbled with the pen on the photo and held it aloft. The observer left the room and entered the room with the young boy. He took the clipboard from the boy and held it up to the window. On the photo, the boy had drawn a stick drawing of a man sitting on the log and two birds in flight over the water.
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